Tax protest to be taken to street

Second "picnic" opposing Clean and Green discounts to be held along Route 30.

Bruce Hollinger said he might wear a "Scream" costume this Saturday, reminiscent of the movie, because he's screaming about unfair taxes.

He's already e-mailed the Halloween-themed invitations - featuring a skeleton in a top-hat, bats, and a big full moon - and has invited Adams County residents to his second "Ag Reserve Picnic."

Last month, Hollinger hosted a picnic on a property near Littlestown. It wasn't his property, or that of any of the attendees. It belongs to Adams County National Bank, and is enrolled in the "agricultural reserve" category of Clean and Green, a state program administered by the county.

Clean and Green gives properties fitting certain criteria a lower assessed value for keeping their land undeveloped. But Hollinger, who started looking into the program during the county's reassessment two years ago, believes the program in Adams County improperly gives discounts to some property owners, while the rest pick up the tax burden.

His second picnic is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the lot on Route 30 between Renn Kirby Chevrolet and Gateway Boulevard near Gettysburg.

Hollinger said this property is in the middle of a business park, and is slated for development.

"It blows my mind how it can be preserved in the Clean and Green program, and be bound to be developed," he said. "Clean and Green is a land-preservation program, and it seems like it morphed into a tax-hedge program.

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Hollinger said the property was purchased for about $1 million, and is assessed for tax purposes at about $5,000 under Clean and Green.

Following the picnic, he plans on returning to the site of the first picnic, on which a "no trespassing" sign has since been posted, he said.

"I'm going to arrive, and see how I'm received," he said, adding the owners cannot turn him away.

And according to the state, Hollinger is right.

Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Director Doug Wolfgang said the law indeed permits public access to properties enrolled as agricultural reserve.

"There is a provision that the property has to be open to the public for passive recreation uses," Wolfgang said. "But the landowner can place reasonable restrictions on entry. Maybe they don't want to permit people to bring firearms, or not allow people in certain areas because it can result in injury."

The law uses the term "reasonable restrictions," which he said is left up to the county assessor's discretion. A "no trespassing" sign that flat-out bars entry, though, would not be permitted under Clean and Green, Wolfgang said.

The law also states that "whenever possible," those intending to use agricultural-reserve properties should notify the landowner, Wolfgang said.

Hollinger said that, later this week, he plans to contact the owners of the properties he intends to visit this weekend.

Wolfgang pointed out public access only applies to the agricultural-reserve category. The vast majority of Clean and Green properties around the state are enrolled either in "agricultural use" or "forest reserve," which are not required to allow public entry, he said.

The public access on agricultural-reserve properties is part of the law because the owners of these properties have preferential assessments, Wolfgang said. Lawmakers decided there had to be a greater public benefit to these tax discounts, so it was written into the law that public access is allowed, he said.

Adams County Director of Tax Services Daryl Crum previously said the county is updating its Clean and Green policies, and as part of that update, they will visit parcels in the program to make sure they are in compliance, and fit in the correct category.

The county has roughly 4,600 Clean and Green properties, totaling 219,000 acres, with 125 applications pending enrollment next year, he said.

About 3,200 are enrolled in agricultural use, and 1,100 are forest reserve. There are about 300 that enrolled as agricultural reserve.

Bruce Hollinger, of Fairfield, is holding a picnic from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at a Clean and Green-registered property on Route 30 between Renn Kirby Chevrolet and Gateway Boulevard east of Gettysburg. Hollinger said the property is enrolled in the agricultural-reserve category of the program, making it available for public use. This is Hollinger's second "ag-reserve picnic" in which he's trying to point out flaws in the program.